Beer and wine join quick-serve food

SAN FRANCISCO -- Fast-food customers are hearing something new as they order burgers, pizza and all things fried: Would you like wine with that?

No one's selling cases of McMerlot just yet, but a number of so-called "quick-serve" restaurants are adding beer and wine to the menu, partly to boost sales but also with an eye to amping up the ambiance.

"We simply wanted to create a different kind of dining experience," says Jeff Harvey, CEO and president of Burgerville, a 39-unit chain in the Northwest that recently added wine and beer to one of its restaurants in Vancouver, Wash.

The trend comes at a time when quick serve or restaurants are looking to attract cash-strapped diners who are searching for cheaper options, but who are not willing to give up the amenities of full-service restaurants.

"If you're more of an upscale fast-food restaurant and you're trying to trade upon that image as more of a premium product, wine really fits in with that image," says David Henkes, of the Chicago-based research firm Technomic.

Seattle-based Starbucks Corp. announced in July that it will change the name of one of its existing stores in Seattle -- to 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea -- and begin serving wine and beer as well as coffee and tea.

At the three-location Shake Shack in New York, owners decided to sell beer and wine when the first restaurant opened at Madison Square Park five years ago.

"Shake Shack is about coming together, hanging out in the modern version of that old roadside burger stand," says managing partner Randy Garutti. "We felt that beer and wine was a crucial part of who we are."

The Shack even has its own beer, Shack Meister Ale, created with a local brewery, as well as wines including Shack Chard and Shack Shiraz.